Rally of Great Britain: Peugeot final summary

Peugeot driver Freddy Loix has finished sixth on the Rally Great Britain,
scoring driver and manufacturer points on his Peugeot debut.
The Belgian was drafted in as a last-minute replacement for the unwell
Richard Burns, and did an excellent job...

Peugeot driver Freddy Loix has finished sixth on the Rally Great Britain,
scoring driver and manufacturer points on his Peugeot debut.

The Belgian was drafted in as a last-minute replacement for the unwell
Richard Burns, and did an excellent job despite only testing the car for
half a day before the rally started. Loix is one of Peugeot Sport's
contracted drivers for the 2004 season.

Today's final three stages of the last round of the 2003 World Rally
Championship consisted of 89 competitive kilometres through south Wales.
Unusually for Great Britain, conditions remained dry throughout all three
days of the event.

Freddy said: "I always knew this would be a very tough rally, as I had so
much to learn. The 206 WRC is very competitive, but it is not so easy to
drive quickly straight away, as it is very complex. I was learning all
the time, but I think I only found a good feeling towards the end of the
rally when I went on the softest possible suspension setting. This has
been a really useful experience, because it means that I can come to
Peugeot next year with a good idea of how the team operates."

Freddy's team mates Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera were not so
lucky, as both were forced to retire. Gronholm went out of the rally
after SS3, following damage to his front wheel after hitting a log. Harri
was holding an excellent fifth place this morning, but a transmission
component failed on SS16 and left him stranded.

Harri said: "It's a real pity as it was going well and I think we would
have finished and scored some points. I heard a noise from the gearbox
about two kilometres into the stage, and finally it failed eight
kilometres later. This hasn't been an easy rally for me as it took a
while to find a good feeling. But I'm hoping for much better things next
year!"

Four Peugeots finished within the top 10 in Britain, thanks to some
excellent performances from privateer drivers. Manfred Stohl was seventh
in a customer-specification 206 WRC, and he was followed home by the
similar cars of Roman Kresta in eighth and Juuso Pykalisto in ninth.

Peugeot Sport boss Corrado Provera commented: "We came into this rally
with strong hopes of making up the five points we needed to become
manufacturers champions. But straight away our chances were damaged by
Richard's illness, which meant that we lost one of our best drivers and
the person who knew best the limits of this rally. Then Marcus went off
on the third stage, and we realised that our chances of winning the title
were lost. I'd like to congratulate Citroen who have beaten us because
they were better, more consistent, and more reliable. The manufacturers'
title remains not far away from us in France, which makes it easier to
take back next year! As for the drivers' title, Marcus won it last year
in a French car, and I'm sad that now it is leaving France. But I promise
we will be back...."

The World Championship starts again in Monte Carlo next year, from
January 23-25.